Question 1

This lesson is about using the bare l-participle for wishes and curses. Why does propali have the auxiliary nisu here?

Accepted Answer

This sentence is a regular statement about the past, so it uses the standard past tense which requires an auxiliary verb (nisu). You only drop the auxiliary to form the optative mood for fixed wishes or curses. For example, if you wanted to curse them to fail, you would drop the auxiliary and use the bare l-participle: Dabogda propali! (May they be ruined!).

Question 2

Why is the verb negative (nisu) when the sentence already uses ni... ni... (neither... nor...)?

Accepted Answer

Croatian strictly enforces double negation. Whenever you use negative conjunctions like ni... ni... or negative pronouns like nitko (nobody), the main verb must also be negative.

Question 3

In English, 'Neither he nor his brother' often takes a singular verb. Why are nisu and propali in the plural?

Accepted Answer

In Croatian, a compound subject made of two or more nouns is treated as plural, even when they are joined by the negative ni... ni.... Since on and brat are both masculine singular, they combine to make a masculine plural subject, requiring the plural verb forms nisu and propali.

Question 4

What is the literal meaning of propasti, and why is it relevant to the optative mood?

Accepted Answer

The infinitive propasti literally means to fall through or sink, but it is heavily used to mean to fail, go bankrupt, or be ruined. Because it describes a terrible outcome, its bare l-participle is a classic choice for forming curses in the optative mood, like Propao dabogda! (May you be ruined!).

Ni on ni njegov brat nisu propali.

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